Today we’re diving head first into co-founder relationships. We discuss our own journeys with our co-founders, our Batman and Robin framework and how it all relates back to trust and honesty.

A co-founder relationship is a lot like Batman and Robin. In every situation, someone is Batman and someone is Robin; someone’s in the lead, and someone else is right behind to support them. But at the heart of it is trust; if I don’t trust you, you can’t be my Batman or my Robin. It isn’t easy to maintain the trust through all the highs and lows.

Often it’s better to build relationships with people over years, so that when you do start a company you already have a network of people you really like and trust.

Today’s topics include:

The importance of context

Talking about your feelings vs. your thoughts

The Batman and Robin framework

Accepting people for who they are vs forgiving

Setting expectations together up front, and identifying what matters most to you so you can take the appropriate role

Steli and Hiten’s tips of the day (for people with co-founder problems):

Hiten: If you have a problem, just address it as fast as possible and find a way to stop working with them if that’s what needs to happen.

Steli: If you’re at the point where there’s no dinner date that will save the problems you’ve had over the years, get counseling. Find someone who both of you trust and is unrelated to the company, go to dinner together, and get an outsider’s perspective to moderate between the two of you.

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